A/N: This story has been on my laptop for a very long. Approximately since I first posted Out of the Forge, in fact. The reason it was delayed is two fold; one, I lost inspiration for the last part. And two; when I DID finish it, I got really picky and worried. Especially the last section; Rin is so hard to pin down here.

Either way, here it is now. I expect at least one more that is like this [Bleach, Naruto, Blue Exorcist] in style. However, that doesn't mean my philosophy will end there. I got at least a few more in mind...

Woe is me.

Thanks to tabbikitti who's review for and subsequent conversation about Out of the Forge got the bunny moving. She also didn't mind checking it over before posting. Go give her a hug if you like it! (after you review first, please)

-start-

MASK
[mask, mahsk]

noun

1. a covering for all or part of the face, worn to conceal one's identity.

2. anything that disguises or conceals; disguise; pretence

Ichigo places on his mask, claws, rips it on. It is a grinning skull, with red strips on one side. Later, two thick stripes cross down his eyes. It is fearsome and brings a shiver of dread down one's spine when seen.

It's what he has to put on to access his Inner Hollow's powers. It is made of bone, or something similar, but it is warm and molds to his face. It distorts his voice, makes it sound hollow and turns his eyes the gold-on-black of Hollows.

Ichigo hates his mask as much as he loves it.

Hates it because he's a monster for it.

Loves it because he's stronger and more capable of protecting thanks to it.

The process of gaining such power is painful – Hollowfication. Illegal even. But Ichigo didn't know and probably would have chosen that path again even if he knew. He still would have needed that power after all.

Ichigo doesn't know, but people have put on masks for much the same reason as he and the rest of the Visored do for centuries. It is only in (relatively) recent years that people have forgotten the old meanings of masks.

Of the old shamanic rituals, where the practitioners would use masks to take on the power – the form – of a demon. Of a god. Channel them, become them.

Ichigo doesn't know this.

But he does know – the putting on of the Hollow Mask is called Hollowfication as well for a reason.

Because he becomes a Hollow while he wears it.

He knows, very well, that while it is on, his reiatsu takes on the feel, the shape of a Hollow's. Knows that he is more monster than hero then.

Knows that is why Inoue is staring up at him with such a terrified look in her eyes, even though he had just taken a blow for her, just protected her. Knows why she is a sharp, shaking aura of terror behind him as he fights Grimmjow.

(He doesn't blame her – her own brother was a Hollow after all, tried to devour her, and that leaves scars.)

Ichigo hates being a monster. Hates causing such fear in his friends' eyes, having to justify his power and fear it at the same time.

But he hates being weak even more.

So he puts on his mask. He increases his power. He becomes stronger, becomes a monster, for the sake of others.

And when he loses it, even after regaining his Shinigami powers...

He is relieved.

He is empty.

And he doesn't understand the last.

But he never truly understood his Inner Hollow in the first place either.

This Mask's secret is thus: Zanpakutō and Inner Hollows are very much alike when it comes to power type and use. However – Zanpakutō are born of the soul of the Shinigami. Inner Hollows are born from the soul of the Shinigami.

Without his Inner Hollow, Ichigo is missing part of his soul.

Naruto's mask is a smile. A big wide grin, that stretches his face and squints his eyes shut.

It isn't a fake though. Naruto's mask is real, for when he's like that, he is nothing else.

Nothing more than a happy, good, heroic fool. Naruto is Naruto the Number One Knuckle-Headed Most Surprising Ninja. The one who dreams of becoming the Hokage – and might actually become one too, considering things now.

Once in awhile though, being such a mask is tiring so he lets it fall, lets out his sorrow and loneliness. But only for a bit – too long will break the mask.

But the loneliness and sorrow is also another mask.

Deep inside, there is hatred, anger and violence. All the things most Jinchūriki have, for good reason.

(The fact no one considers that it is their actions that make them monsters does not speak well of the human race as a whole.)

But Naruto lives his masks – lives them so much, they become the truth. They become him, and Naruto becomes them.

So, when Naruto faces said darkness, he banishes it – because Naruto is suppose to be the good guy after all. That is what his mask is, so that is what Naruto will be.

But, that darkness might be a mask as well...

This Mask's secret is thus: There is more than one, a fact that is common to the rest of the world. In fact, one will probably never be able to count all of them, or even find all of them.

Unlike most others though, Naruto has long lost his real self – and will never uncover it.

If he was ever asked, Rin would claim to never wear masks. That he never had a use for such things. Anyone he told this to – even his own brother Yukio – would scoff at this and consider that perhaps he has quite a few and focuses on ignoring them.

They would be wrong.

Rin truly doesn't have a mask. He is unarmoured in a way that most would never be able to survive. Open and unshielded in a dangerous world, where one must hid bits of themselves if they have any hope of surviving. No cover, nothing to help him weather the blows life throws at people.

So, how does he do it?

By only showing parts of himself. He does not mask himself, he is unbearably honest in truth – but he only uses the parts of him he knows will be appropriate and useful at the time.

The friendly part of him. The rage part of him. The somewhat sneaky part of him. The kind part of him.

All of them are showed in turn when he needs/wants to. Despite how easily this could be confused for a true mask, or series of masks, Rin, despite his generally denseness, knows this isn't so. That this isn't what a mask is in any manner.

That it is unnatural, in fact.

It is one of the many things he manages to keep secret because no one asks.

(Most don't consider the fact that Rin only hid his Son of Satan status for long because no one outright asked him. Rin cannot outright lie, but he is good at taking advantage of wordplay, if only subconsciously.)

Rin vaguely recalls a game or something that spoke of something called Origin; an impulse, a single command that influences one's life. If there is such a thing in the real word, he thinks his might be TRUTH or something similar. After all, every time he tries to lie, he messes up. In some way or another, it is always at the very least obvious that he lies.

Rin would be wrong. His Origin would be something else. Something more terrible, in a way.

But that is a secret for another time, another place.

This Mask's secret is thus: By having no mask, Rin has made himself into a jewel, multifaceted and beautiful, something that one cannot not see the whole of from any angle. But also somewhat terrifying and cold. It is too bright for normal people, too perfect almost. If anyone ever knew this truth, they would fear him, hate him, more than when he was merely the Son of Satan. They would not know why, but they would.

After all, perfection is impossible and thus must be destroyed.

There are many ways to have and use a mask.

One could use it for power, to make one someone or something they normally are not. Give them another identity, one that is powerful to their usual powerless state.

One could use it to be human, to be kind and good and decent. To be someone to be admired and capable of inspiring others to do much the same.

And one could always discard it and be completely and utterly honest. Lower ones guard and reveal the naked and terrifying truth.

But no matter what, it isn't something anyone can hide from. At the very least, one will encounter all the others that use them in one manner or another.

The ultimate truth about Masks is thus: Humans need them as they are. It's one of the many reasons we haven't destroyed ourselves in the end. We must be able to deny in some way or another our flaws and monstrous aspects. Otherwise, we cannot go on with our daily lives and interact with each other without causing near constant wounds to form in their and our psyches.

If we could not...no one knows what would happen. The end...

...or perhaps a beginning?

-end-

A/N: Yes this was a difficult baby to get out. I think it's worth it, though still think it could (possibly) be a little better...ah, well. Satisfied with what I got.

And yes, the next one will be based around the Origin of the NasuVerse. Yay. That's going to be a pain...and yet I'm looking forwards to it (argh, I'm such a masochist...).

Thanks for reading and please leave a review. You get magic little cheesecakes out of it!

~Love Psycho